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Kerretta: Simple Strategies & Improvised Ideas

  Tobias Fischer

Already your debut 12inch „Antient“ was a remarkable artistic success. Comparing the approach of that release with the new material, what were the main challenges for „Vilayer“?   
Hi and thanks... Antient was an interesting experiment. We hired an old Masonic building in a place called Port Chambers near New Zealands most sourthern major city, Dunedin. The idea was to take a few vague ideas and improvise them over a few days and that was it. Vilayer on the other hand was the accumulation of ideas written in the studio... So quite different in some ways...


As an active live band, were you thinking about the stage when writing these songs?
We do test songs live, but most songs are formed in the studio out of improvised ideas. We have the luxury of having our guitarist's Dave studio as our practice room. So that's great for capturing moments of glory. We are lucky in that respect its a nice studio.

There's a moment in the middle of „Maven Fade“, when you recreate the song from scratch on the basis of a dreamy Guitar lick. Do all of these ideas come up in rehearsals and sessions, or is the arrangement part of some importance as well?
Maven Fade was actually built around a deconstructed idea that was slowly recreated one note at a time on each bar... That was just an idea that we came up with while working on the tune. That idea then kind of became most of the songs charm. It's great how simple ideas can make aspects of music much more interesting.

How, in general, does the live-setup and -feeling differ from your studio recordings?
Well, I'd have to say it's much the same really. Our live set up is the same as our studio set up. We may use a special effects pedal here and there to complement a recording but for the most part there's no difference. Which also means we can play live the way it sounds on the record - though often slightly more aggressive...



The press release places great value on the fact that you're „not eclectic“. Why is this important to you?
Well I guess we are eclectic really, just maybe not so obvious. We have all played in many different bands over the years and that experience has probably made us less worried about musical trends and scenes. The great thing about Kerretta is that we can play with anyone and it seems to suit. We have played with metal bands to bands like the breeders and ...trail of dead .... Its a great thing really.

I was intrigued by how un-obvious your influences are ...
Well thanks again... We do have quite varied influences. I'm not sure how that translates to the sound of  Kerretta. I'm sure it's all in there somewhere but the band takes on its own path I guess... We do get a lot of people suggesting who we may sound like and half the time they are often bands none of us have even heard.

What, to you, did Bob Weston's mastering add to the album?
A great balance and we knew he would set up right for the vinyl. Bob worked on a record for another  band I was in and we were really happy with what he did with that so we used him again for Vilayer. We are really pleased with what he's done


From your experience, is the music market in New-Zealand more open to experimentation?
New Zealand's a great place to make music. Our audiences are very passionate. And as a band we just do what we do. We are not the only ones, there are great bands down here. Still we hope to take our music as far as possible and our tour of America went very well. So hopefully Germany and the rest of Europe is next!

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